More industries should take a nod from sports and give people cool jackets when they hit big career milestones. — Claire Watkins
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Tara VanDerveer makes coaching history
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Tara VanDerveer with Stanford players (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Stanford women's basketball head coach Tara VanDerveer is now the winningest coach in college basketball history, surpassing Mike Krzyzewski with her 1,203rd win on Sunday.
- "More important than all the astounding numbers and career accomplishments, she's positively impacted countless lives as a coach and a mentor," Krzyzewski said in a statement. "Tara remains a true guardian of our sport."
Background: VanDerveer has been a head coach at the collegiate level since 1978: first at Idaho, then Ohio State, and now in her 38th season at Stanford.
- She's led the Cardinal to three national championships, most recently in 2021, as well as 14 Final Four appearances.
- She has already been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (2011), and also coached the gold-medal-winning 1996 Olympic women's national team.
VanDerveer, 70, is still being chased for the title by UConn head coach Geno Auriemma, 69.
- Auriemma sits third in all-time wins, trailing VanDerveer by seven, with the deciding factor for who will finish on top possibly being who simply stays in coaching the longest.
Sunday's record-setting win over Oregon State came in the face of some adversity, as star Stanford forward Cameron Brink missed the game due to a knee injury.
- Brink was listed as a game-time decision, assuaging fears she suffered a more serious injury against Oregon on Friday.
- Junior Kiki Iriafen stepped up with a career-high 36 points in Brink's absence to secure the win.
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The dramatic aftermath of Ohio State's Iowa upset
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Kirk Irwin/Getty Images
No. 18 Ohio State earned an overtime win over No. 2 Iowa on Saturday 100-92, coming back from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter to notch their first top-ten win of the season.
- Buckeye sophomore Cotie McMahon scored a career-high 33 points with 12 rebounds in the win.
- Caitlin Clark scored a season-high 45 points in the loss, including all nine of Iowa's points in overtime.
- "I could see they were storming the court, which was totally fine - good for their students, great win for them," Clark said after the game, describing the collision as being "blindsided."
- “Kind of scary, could have caused a pretty serious injury to me, and knocked the wind out of me," she continued. "But luckily my teammates kind of picked me up and got me off the court."
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith apologized to Clark directly. Buckeye head coach Kevin McGuff also said the collision "shouldn't happen to anybody" in his postgame press conference, "Such a great player like Caitlin, I really hate that.”
- “We beat an incredible team with one of the best players to ever play our sport, and we did it in front of 18,000 people,” McGuff said later. “So hopefully the significance is we can really build on that with the momentum.”
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Sam Mewis officially announces retirement
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World Cup champion midfielder Sam Mewis officially retired from professional soccer on Friday, after battling a chronic knee injury that has kept her mostly sidelined since 2021.
- Mewis also retires a three-time NWSL champion, three-time Shield winner, FA Cup winner, and NCAA champion.
Big picture: Mewis will go down in history as one of the best midfielders to ever wear a U.S. jersey, most notably as one of the anchors of the starting XI that won the 2019 World Cup final.
- She finishes her USWNT career with 24 goals in 83 caps, and an Olympic bronze medal alongside World Cup gold.
Mewis first suffered a cartilage injury in her knee in 2017, but was able to maintain a world class level of play until 2021.
- After the Tokyo Olympics, Mewis's knee stopped responding to rehabilitation, and she played in her last professional match in March 2022.
Mewis wrote on Friday that her knee “can no longer tolerate the impact that elite soccer requires.”
- “I plan to share more about the journey of my injury someday. I know that there are many athletes who have faced the unique struggle of stepping away from sport early and I think these deserve to be told – and heard.”
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Tennis: World No. 1 Iga Świątek fell in the third round of the Australian Open on Friday in three sets to Linda Nosková, leaving her side of the bracket wide open.
- No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 4 Coco Gauff are through to the quarterfinals on the other side of the bracket, on a possible collision course for a semifinal matchup.
WNBA: The Connecticut Sun cored Brionna Jones this week, answering one major offseason question with Jones and free agent DeWanna Bonner both out of contract.
- The LA Sparks have also cored point guard Jordin Canada, but Andraya Carter of ESPN reported the designation will likely result in a sign and trade deal.
PWHL: The PWHL saw its first ever shootout decided on Saturday, as Toronto earned just its second win 4-3 after a six-round shootout against Montreal.
- The league's "3-2-1" system gives teams three points for a regulation win, two for a shootout or overtime win, and one for a shootout or overtime loss.
WSL: USWNT defender Emily Fox made her WSL debut for Arsenal this weekend, starting in a 2-1 win over Everton.
- USWNT midfielder Kristie Mewis also made her debut off the bench for West Ham, notching an assist in a 4-3 loss to Tottenham.
- U.S. forward Mia Fishel also earned a start for Chelsea, in the wake of a season-ending injury to Sam Kerr.
College basketball games to watch this week:
- No. 5 USC vs No. 20 Utah, Jan 22 at 7pm ET (ESPN)
- No. 7 Kansas St vs No. 12 Baylor, Jan. 22 at 8:30pm ET (FS1)
- No. 1 South Carolina vs No. 10 LSU, Jan. 25 at 8pm ET (ESPN)
- No. 9 UConn vs No. 19 Notre Dame, Jan 27 at 8pm ET (FOX)
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"I play for you. I'm so proud of you and don't know what I did to deserve you as a sister, teammate or best friend. There will never be another player like you. What a f---ing career. I love you."
Kristie Mewis in an Instagram post dedicated to her sister and USWNT teammate Sam, following her retirement announcement.
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